Nek nominate page outrages

A man drinks a full bottle of
Jagermeister in a matter of seconds as part of a 'Nek
Nominate' drinking game. Photo from the Ashburton Nek
Nomination page on Facebook.

A young Ashburton man who
downed a bottle of Jagermeister in one go in an online drinking
game could have died, health officials say.

A video has emerged on social media showing the man drinking
the entire bottle in a matter of seconds as part of a 'Nek
Nominate' drinking game craze sweeping Australasia.

The footage, posted on the Ashburton Nek Nomination Facebook
page, shows a young man cracking open a new Jagermeister
bottle - 35 per cent alcohol and around $100 for a 1.75 litre
bottle - and consuming it all in one go through a funnel.

Nek Nominate is a new social media-based drinking game where
someone downs a drink in one go and then nominates two
friends to do the same.

Paul Rout, chief executive of the Alcohol Drug Association
New Zealand, said downing large amounts of alcohol puts
people at risk.

"Downing high alcohol content drinks in large amounts, in one
binge, is very dangerous," he said.

"If you take large amounts of this drug it could start to
shut down your central nervous system, you could go
unconscious, choke on your own vomit, you could definitely
end up in hospital, or you could end up dead.

"It's very, very risky behaviour."

He said encouraging friends to take part in the game was
irresponsible.

"The problem with the Nek Nominate site is it's pushing and
encouraging people to skull drinks, which is not a good way
to stay safe," he said.

"Nek Nominate is about having fun with your mates, but often
you're putting them at risk. If you really care for your
mates then you won't be promoting this."

Ashburton Community Alcohol and Drug Service manager Chris
Clark was appalled by the page.

"I just can't believe that anyone would think that was funny.
Things like that actually kill people," she said.

"It's just ridiculous. It's people putting themselves in real
risk of harm. There's no way that people should be condoning
or encouraging acts like this."

The Nek Nominate game has already caused controversy in New
Zealand after footage of All Black Steven Luatua pouring beer
into the mouth of an unidentified man was posted online.

Footage of a 6-year-old boy downing the contents of a beer
bottle emerged shortly afterwards. The boy's sister, who
posted the video, said the bottle contained fizzy juice, not
beer.

* If you have concerns about your alcohol consumption, or of
those around you, contact the ADANZ helpline on 0800 787 797
*